Cassava has long been an indispensable part of Vietnamese meals, especially in difficult times. In the past, when food was not abundant, rice mixed with cassava was often a familiar dish in family meals. Therefore, cassava mixed with rice or cassava cake is a childhood dish of many people.
On winter days, eating a bowl of hot cassava sweet soup or holding a piece of cassava steamed with coconut milk, both warm and delicious, makes everyone feel the special flavor of this rustic tuber.
Eating cassava provides a lot of carbohydrates, fiber, protein, fat, sugar, sodium, thiamine, phosphorus, calcium, riboflavin.
In addition, this tuber also contains iron and vitamin C which are good for human health.
Phu Tho cassava cake specialty is loved by many people.
Vitamin A is abundant in cassava, for people with poor eyesight, supplementing vitamin A through cassava is a very healthy choice.
Not only that, this tuber also contains saponins that can reduce inflammation, have the ability to decompose other organic waste such as uric acid, and balance intestinal flora.
What is special is that cassava is known as a starchy tuber, but in 100g of cassava, only 2% is starch. The remaining 80 - 90% of cassava is water.
That's why cassava is a staple food in many diets around the world . Cassava can even reduce appetite and reduce fat storage in cells, so it is known as a "miracle food for weight loss".
Many people use this root vegetable as a staple food for weight loss, and may need to supplement with protein to avoid malnutrition.
A familiar gift from home
In the past, cassava was only used for boiling. Boiling cassava well is also a feat. First, you have to peel off the outer skin, just make diagonal cuts along the body of the cassava and then use a sharp knife to gradually separate and peel off the skin easily. If boiling, just put it in water, add a few grains of salt to make it stronger and let the cassava cook until soft.
Before removing from heat, pour out all the water in the pot, turn on the stove to low, and cook until the cassava is dry and charred. People often dip boiled cassava in sesame salt, of course it's okay if you don't have sesame salt.
Nowadays, boiled cassava is more complicated, people have to boil (or steam) with coconut milk, even adding fresh shredded coconut. Every October-November, sometimes in the evening when walking on the street, you will see a street vendor selling steamed cassava.
The smoke from the cassava pot was billowing, the smell of coconut milk was fragrant. At that time, I had to stop the car and buy a box.
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Variations from cassava
In Hanoi, there are many ways to prepare cassava, and sticky rice with cassava is an example. Sticky rice with cassava must of course have cassava, then sticky rice, green onions, lard, etc. For rice, use yellow sticky rice or upland sticky rice, soak in water for about 4-5 hours, then pour into a steamer.
Peel the cassava, soak it for a few hours, then cut it into pieces slightly larger than a finger joint, sprinkle some salt on it, and put it in the pot to steam with the sticky rice. When the rice becomes sticky rice, the cassava is cooked. There are two types of cassava: soft cassava and sticky cassava. When cooking sticky rice, people often choose soft white cassava.
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When the cassava sticky rice is cooked, scoop it into a bowl. Before that, you need to make the scallion oil mixture. Heat the oil until hot, add the chopped green onions and turn off the stove. Pour the green onions into the hot oil until just cooked and pour it over the cassava sticky rice bowl.
Fatty, plump sticky rice, soft and fragrant cassava, cassava sticky rice is truly a dish that cannot be missed every winter in Hanoi. Nowadays, cassava sticky rice has many variations, people can eat it with minced lean meat, stir-fried with fish sauce and pepper.
Besides fat and green onions, there are also fried shallots, sometimes the cassava sticky rice also comes with a big piece of fatty sausage.
Cassava sticky rice addicts all know the sticky rice stall on the sidewalk of Ngo Si Lien Street. From the time it opened until it closed, this place was always packed with customers waiting their turn.
 Cassava tea |
Besides sticky rice, Hanoi also has cassava sweet soup . It is also a top dish of winter street cuisine.
The recipe is quite simple, including cassava, tapioca starch, brown sugar (or molasses, or palm sugar) and indispensable crushed and chopped ginger, which enhances the flavor of the dish.
Cassava is peeled, soaked in cold water or diluted salt water for a few hours, then washed, the cassava veins are removed and cut into pieces like chess pieces. Boil the cassava and discard the water for the first time.
 Boiled cassava |
Add water and cook a second time, simmer until cassava is soft, when it boils, remember to skim off the foam. When the cassava is soft, add sugar.
Wait for the sugar to dissolve, then add the crushed and chopped ginger, stir gently, simmer until the sugar is absorbed and does not stick to the pot. When the cassava is really soft, mix a little tapioca starch with cold water and slowly pour into the pot of cassava.
Tapioca starch will make the cassava dessert thick, you can also add tapioca starch or cornstarch. When enjoying, scoop it into a bowl and eat it hot. The rich taste of cassava, the warm aroma of ginger and the sweetness of sugar make winter warmer.
Nowadays, many people like to add a little coconut milk and shredded coconut to cassava dessert. In general, it's okay to eat it like that.
In addition, cassava is also made into spicy cakes . This cake includes shredded cassava, squeezed dry, mixed with flour, chopped green onions and fresh chili. This mixture is mixed well, then rolled into small balls, put into a pan of boiling oil and fried until golden brown.
When the cake is cooked, take it out and dip it in chili sauce or sweet and sour fish sauce with kohlrabi, pickled papaya, herbs, raw vegetables, etc. In each different region, people also have different ways of preparing dishes from cassava.
It could be cassava cake (cassava is what Southerners call it), grilled cassava cake, cassava sweet soup or cassava banana sweet soup, cassava floss - a relatively strange dish to Northerners.
Make baked cassava cake with an air fryer as follows: 1 kg of cassava, 100gr of mung beans soaked for 2 hours, sugar according to personal sweetness level (50-100gr), 1 small bowl of grated coconut, white sesame, 2 tablespoons of coconut milk.
Put cassava and mung beans in to steam until cooked. While the cassava is still hot, mash it, and also mash the mung beans. Then add mung beans + sugar + shredded coconut + coconut milk, wear gloves and knead well. Put some white sesame seeds in a box lid, put the kneaded cassava mixture in and shape the cake into a round shape according to the box lid.
Then knock down and take out the cake, place it on the baking tray of the air fryer. Bake at the highest temperature for 10-15 minutes, bake in the air fryer at 220 degrees for 10 minutes. If you like the cake crust to be crispier, increase the time to 20-25 minutes.
(*Some dishes and photos taken by Fb Loan Tran)
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